Ezio Auditore da Firenze
Skills Ezio is an Assassin, a master at his craft. His trade requires him to be skilled in armed and unarmed combat (including long-range), pick-pocketing, stealth, deception (disguising himself as another person) and of course…assassination. He wields an arsenal of weapons that he is able to expertly conceal beneath his Assassin garbs. This consists of twin hidden blades, the Sword of Altaïr, crossbow, throwing knives, smoke bombs and poison darts. He also carries around vials of poisons and medicines to either heal him or kill his enemies discretely. His weaponry would go through changes made by Leonardo da Vinci as a wheellock firearm and poison needle were added underneath his left hidden blade. Ezio is an accomplished swordsman, having trained in the Italian school of swordsmanship, and adept in his use of the crossbow and other projectile weapons. Therefore, he is an extremely versatile fighter who does not truly excel at any range. Ezio was born with Eagle Vision, the ability to instinctively differentiate between friend and foe. Those who possess Eagle Vision can sense how people and objects relate to them. This is manifested in a glowing colored aura to Ezio. Colors vary. For instance, red indicates enemies or spilt blood while blue indicates allies. Besides Eagle Vision, Ezio’s agility is what makes him such a skilled Assassin. At a young age, he possessed acrobatic skills that exceeded those of an average man. He is a very skilled free-runner, able to move quickly and efficiently in sprinting, climbing, and jumping (particularly navigating over rooftops). His endurance is also remarkable as he performs these feats without his weapons or armor significantly slowing him down. Combined with his Eagle Vision, Ezio can map out his surroundings and plan his next move accordingly in a flash. At the time of his disappearance in 1506, Ezio was Mentor of the Italian Assassins, displaying competent leadership. He may not be in his physical prime anymore, but with age comes an extraordinary amount of skill and wisdom. Ezio has trained several Assassin apprentices, several of them looking up to him for guidance. Prior to his disappearance, Ezio was tasked with leading the Italian Assassins against the House of Borgia, a Templar Order. Despite all his skills, Ezio is still a man and possesses all the weaknesses of one. As capable as he is, the Master Assassin prefers to act in stealth and does not like to fight out in the open especially when the numbers are against him. Ezio is also bound by a code of honor. He never truly wants to intentionally kill a man and he has qualms against harming and/or killing women and children. Personality Ezio was born and raised into the House of Auditore, a noble Florentine family. Early on in his life, he was a playful young man who had many friends and lovers. He was a passionate man who let his emotions get the better of him. He was especially passionate about his family. The Auditore execution scarred him for the rest of his life. He initially became an Assassin in order to exact vengeance on those who plotted the execution of his father and two brothers. As a result, he was very protective of his mother and sister, sometimes to the point of being overbearing. Ezio also was quick to defend his family’s honor, which occasionally led to losing control of his emotions. As Ezio eased into his role as an Assassin, he developed as an individual. He suppressed his anger and was no longer prone to lashing out. By the time he was a Master Assassin, Ezio was calmer and more collected, a stark contrast to his earlier days. He longer used revenge as a motivation to continue fighting the Borgia family. Instead, he fought against the Templars to prevent them from snuffing free will and preventing the spread of new ideas. On the other hand, Ezio emerged as a leader in the Assassin Order in Italy. As a Master Assassin, he instills a sense of brotherhood within the Italian Order. His skills are unmatched within the Order, his agility and resourcefulness makes him a valuable ally and a lethal threat. Ezio is even a decent Mentor, having trained many apprentices. In fact, he is still the Mentor of the Italian Assassins when he disappeared in 1506. In his late 40s, Ezio has become more distant towards others. He is more suspicious of strangers and discrete with his associates. His suspicion may even border on paranoia now that he is in Pandora. Fortunately, he is more open with close acquaintances such as family and friends. Some of his best friends are famous historical figures such as Leonardo da Vinci and Niccolò Machiavelli. Even to his enemies, Ezio treats them with respect after he assassinates them (such is the Assassin way). He even spares those he does not deem worthy to kill which shows a code of honor on his part. As for the ladies, Ezio usually has his way with them. A notorious womanizer earlier in his life, Ezio continues to seduce every beautiful and intelligent woman he takes a fancy to. At the same time, he is also quite the gentleman, treating women with much respect. Not surprising, considering that his mother and sister are the two most important women in his life. Appearance Ezio stands at 6’0” and weighs in at 170 lbs. He is by no means a body builder; rather, his body is slim and lithe yet still echoes power. For a 47 year old, he is incredibly athletic which is necessary for a Master Assassin of his caliber. Ezio’s hood shrouds much of his handsome face. He has short, cropped dark brown hair that is generally ruffled by his hood. He sports a neatly trimmed mustache and goatee. His tender yet piercing honey brown eyes seem more perceptive than normal human eyes. Though youth is no longer on his side, Ezio still looks relatively young for 47. There are no wrinkles or other signs of aging on his face. No imperfections save a scar down across his lip, courtesy of a childhood skirmish. Entering Pandora, Ezio wears his white Roman Assassin robes provided by his friend Niccolò Machiavelli. They are a blend of his father’s old robes and Altaïr’s robes (Altaïr being Ezio’s ancestor). The hood is connected to the robes, with the torso bearing an open collar. Coincidentally, the center of the hood is shaped like an eagle’s beak. The lower part of the robes is doubly layered, with the back of the robes trailing down to be longer than the front. Around Ezio’s waist is a long red sash with an ornate insignia of the Italian Assassins decorated on it. The belt contains pouches holding smoke bombs, bullets, poison and medicine vials, etc. The belt is flanked by scabbards holding throwing knives. The robes also feature a leather spaulder where a plain white cape is attached, draped over and around Ezio’s left arm and shoulder. Relationships History Ezio Auditore was born in Florence, Italy on June 24, 1459. He was the second son of Giovanni and Maria Auditore, the former being a member of the Assassin Order. But Ezio was unaware of his heritage. Until 17, he lived the life of a typical Florentine nobleman. He spent much of his time learning the banker’s trade and chasing after women especially his childhood love Cristina Vespucci. It was also during this time that he first met Leonardo da Vinci, a young artist that his mother patronized. After picking up paintings from da Vinci, they struck up a conversation and started a friendship that would last for the rest of their lives. Ezio’s life would change after he turned 17. The year was 1476. Returning home from an errand, Ezio discovered his home pillaged, his father and two brothers arrested, and his mother and sister hiding. Unfortunately, he could do nothing to save his father and brothers. The next day at the Piazza della Signoria, Ezio watched helplessly as his father and brothers were hung. After the execution, he donned his father’s Assassin robes and hidden blade, learning skills like pickpocketing and blending in crowds from a family friend named Paola. He then exacted revenge on the man who presided over the execution of his father and brother, Uberto Alberti, stabbing the man multiple times in the chest. Now the most wanted man in Florence, Ezio escaped with his mother and sister to the Auditore villa in Monteriggioni. On the way there, they met Ezio’s uncle Mario who informed him of the Assassin Order and of Ezio’s true heritage. Initially reluctant, Ezio joined Mario and his mercenaries to take on minions of the Pazzi family in San Gimignano. After killing his childhood enemy Vieri de’ Pazzi, Ezio returned to Florence in 1478 to investigate a conspiracy against the House of Medici, friends to the Auditore. He visited da Vinci who constructed a second hidden blade and provided information on a man named La Volpe. La Volpe aided Ezio by discovering the conspiracy against the Medici, orchestrated by the Templar Order (the sworn enemy of the Assassin Order). Eavesdropping on a Templar meeting, Ezio discovered that the Pazzi planned to kill the Medici at Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence’s largest cathedral, under the orders of the Templar leader Rodrigo Borgia. Ezio arrived at the cathedral the next day to prevent the assassination, but was unsuccessful. Giuliano de’ Medici was killed and his brother Lorenzo was injured. Ezio came to Lorenzo’s aid, fighting off the attackers before tracking down and assassinating the main Pazzi conspirators. After dealing with the Pazzi conspiracy, Ezio freed the city of Venice from Templar influence in 1480. It was during this Venetian quest that Ezio first used his hidden gun weapon on one of his victims. In 1487, Ezio tracked down a Templar ship to Cyprus, carrying a Piece of Eden. Impersonating a Templar guard, he delivered the Piece of Eden to Rodrigo Borgia, the very man responsible for the deaths of his father and brothers. The two briefly dueled before Rodrigo called in Templar reinforcements. However, all of Ezio’s allies from his previous adventures the past decade appeared and drove off the Templars. They then revealed themselves to be Assassins. Ezio was discovered to be the Prophet in Altaïr’s Codex. On that very night, he was formally inducted into the Assassin Order and performed the ceremonial “Leap of Faith”. As an Assassin, Ezio managed to not only unite the pages of Altaïr’s Codex, but also to save Florence and Rome from Templar control. He ensured the future travels of Christoffa Corombo (Christopher Columbus) to the New World, liberated Rome from the Borgia family, and prevented the rise to power of Ercole Massimo’s Cult of Hermes. Most importantly, he helped spread the Renaissance and Assassin ideals of independence and free thought throughout Italy. He would continue to encounter famous historical figures such as Girolamo Savonarola and Nicolaus Copernicus. He would expand the Assassin Brotherhood in Italy and was promoted to the rank of Mentor in 1503 by the former leader, Niccolò Machiavelli. Rodrigo Borgia was killed in that same year, but his son Cesare Borgia would continue the war against the Assassins. But there is a gap in Ezio’s history. In 1506, Ezio discovered a strange artifact while on his way to fight Cesare Borgia in Navarre. The artifact was held by Templars plotting to overthrow Queen Catalina of Spain. During the night, Ezio boarded the ship, disarmed the Templars, and set the vessel ablaze. Stealing the chest containing the artifact, he fled to a safe place and opened it. Upon doing so, roots from underneath grabbed his legs…pulling him down to a new world called Pandora. Even Ezio is not ready for what he is about to face. Pandora History